Agents of Time: Origins
by Sailor V-babe
Summary: Aeons ago, Kairos had been sealed away to protect the safety of the Time Stream. Now, he's gotten out, and a motley team of Senshi must find a way to lock him away before the Earth is destroyed. A crossover with Sapphire and Steel.


A/N: This is a story that's been rattling around in my brain for a while. It is based, though rather loosely, off a British Sci-fi series called Sapphire and Steel. Yes, this does star OCs, and the Sailor Senshi don't appear in this story, but I have a second story planned with the other Senshi. It is set in the PGSM universe instead of the anime, so the feeling should be similar. The characters in this story also appear in a Role-Play on the Moon Dust Cafe forums. I hope you enjoy this first chapter, and if you did enjoy it, feedback is always welcomed!! Also, you may check out the artwork dedicated to this story on my deviantart page: sailorv-babe .com

**Disclaimer: Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, while Sapphire and Steel are property of ATV. However the civilian lives and personalities are created by myself. If you wish to use these characters, please ask.**

**Agents of Time: Origins**

A Sailor Moon Fanfic

by Sailor V-babe

Chapter One: Sapphire and Steel

The tall, dark-skinned woman glanced warily across the expanse of Time. Her solitary mission to gurad the gates of Time was dull, yes, but it was relatively safe. However, recently, there were tremors. Tremors she had not felt in, oh, so long. And she knew where they came from and what caused it. And that knowledge created fear.

Kairos would be back.

She had known this ever since he was sealed away, but this time he felt stronger. And there was only her to combat this creature from the dark. No, wait. Perhaps she wouldn't be alone. For if Kairos were stirring again, that would mean that the soldiers of Time would be forced into awakening. Even now, one was on the cusp of learning the truth. She glanced into the darkness again.

_Hurry up,_ she willed the young soldier as a tremor shook the ground. _I don't know how much longer the seal will last._

*~~O~~*

**London, England. Sometime in the early 2000's**

It had begun raining early in the morning and continued for the whole day. The fat raindrops spattered against the windows next to Eric Steele's desk at Coal Hill School. He glared at the water over the tops of his wire-rimmed glasses. Blasted rain . . . it always ruined his day. He rarely 'enjoyed' life in the rowdy, noisy way of his schoolmates, but grey rainy days drained what little cheer he had in the first place. Gloomily, he turned back to his book, a fringe of brown-streaked golden hair flopping into his face and tuned out the teacher.

"Eric? Are you all right? You missed the end-of-school bell again . . . " Eric looked up from his book to see a girl his own age standing over him. Her pretty blonde hair curled attractively around her face and shoulders.

He sighed. "I'm coming . . ." Listlessly, he gathered his books and followed her out of the classroom.

"Sophie Southerland!" a young man called out as they left the classroom, flinging an arm over her shoulders. His brillaint red hair was swept back from his face in a way that almost resembled wings, and his large smile was almost as brilliant as his hair.

"Hullo to you too, Colin," Sophie said cordially, with a pleasant smile. She glanced at Eric. "Say 'Hullo' to Colin, Eric."

Eric shot a glare at the taller boy. "Drop dead, Colin," came the surly response.

Colin leaned closer to Sophie. "Sophie, dear, why do you insist on encouraging this depressing friend of yours? Why not spend more time with me?"

Sophie gave him a slightly hurt smile and removed his arm from her shoulders. "He needs me, Colin."

"So do I!" Colin protested. "Anyway, no one likes him!"

"All the more reason for me to do so," Sophie replied, her voice patiently kind. "Look, Eric and I have been friends for years, and I'm not going to just abandon him to the mercy of his schoolmates."

"Excuse me, but _he_ has better things to do than stand around being talked about," Eric snapped angrily. Sophie looked slightly hurt as she realized what she had been doing and took a step backwards as Colin pulled away.

"_Sorry,_" Colin replied, his tone and manners revealing he wasn't really. "I guess . . . I'll see you later, Sophie." He turned easily on his heel and walked away fluttering his hand in a sort of farewell. Eric glowered after him then stalked away.

"Why don't you like Colin?" Sophie asked as she walked down the hallway next to Eric. It had been no problem for her to catch up with him as she was several inches taller, even though he was walking fast. "He's actually a nice boy. Very friendly."

"Friendly to you perhaps," Eric muttered. "But that's because you're . . ." He faded off, not wanting to continue. _Because you're beautiful,_ was the thought that had run through his head. Instead, he glanced away and changed topics. "Besides, I've never liked '_perky_' people. You of all people should know that, Sophie." They had reached the outer doors, and Eric put up his umbrella against the drizzle. Sophie, it seemed, didn't mind rain. "And I especially don't like false friendliness."

Sophie started at that last statement. "Eric, are you insinuating that Colin doesn't really want to be your friend?"

Eric's eyes had gone a steely grey. "Colin has never liked me. But he figures that being 'nice' to me may get him closer to what he wants."

Sophie laughed, her voice like a silver bell. "Oh, Eric. Do you know what your problem is? You're just too paranoid! Colin's not like that! Besides, what on Earth would he want?"

"You."

Eric's blunt reply stopped Sophie in her tracks. Colin . . . liked her? Somewhere she guessed she'd known that, but the thought had never really crossed her mind until now. True, he had recently broken up with his girlfriend, but then again their relationship was about as stable as an atom bomb. If a week had gone by without Colin and Margarete having an 'issue' the rest of her class wondered whether the two red-haired teens had been replaced by aliens. But . . . this? And the fact that Eric had noticed this: Eric, the boy who had secluded himself from the world even before she had met him the first time. Sometimes he seemed far older than 15. He seemed millions of years old . .

Eric sighed. Sophie hadn't been ready for that. Why on Earth had he said anything? Though, he sometimes let his harsh toungue lash out at others, the one person he could never hurt deliberately was Sophie. She had been his friend since before he was in school. They were so close, words didn't even seem to matter. Yet now they did. He swallowed and lowered his gaze.

"Sophie, look . . ." he began, wishing to say something to correct his blunder. However, he never got that far. Instead a strange, far-away look came into his eyes as the words died on his lips, fading from his mind. In the instant following, a shrill sound, much like radio static, roared first in one ear then migrated to both until he was completely disoriented. The world seemed to blur and whirl around him, and even Sophie seemed far away. For what seemed like the first time in his life, Eric felt completely helpless. He reached out a pleading hand to his friend, silently pleading for help, then the next thing he knew he was on the ground, huddled up and shaking with cold. The world reeled again as Sophie knelt beside him her words drowned out by the roar of static. Then, darkness enveloped him.

*~~O~~*

When he awoke, Eric blinked a few times at the light around him. The clouds were thinning finally, and the rain had nearly stopped. He sat up, a wave of dizziness making him cringe, but otherwise he felt all right. Sophie knelt beside him, looking rather pale.

"Eric? Are you all right? What happened?"

Eric shook his head. "I don't have a clue. I think I'm all right . . . " He looked at Sophie's face. "How long was I unconsious?"

"Only a few minutes," Sophie began, her face worried, "but you really scared me. I thought you'd died or something. Your forehead was so cold . . ."

"I still feel cold," Eric said, shivering slightly. His brain said this was only because he was practically drenched, but something deep inside denied that. "I think I need to get home." With that, he collected his umbrella from where it had fallen and stood, though rather shakily at that. Sophie made no move to help, not because she didn't care, but she knew that Eric wouldn't accept it. Instead, she walked along next to him, prepared to catch her friend if his legs gave out again. Luckily, they made it to his house without incident (or conversation) and Sophie made sure that he had made it inside before walking to her house next door.

Eric pushed open the door to his house, barely seeing where he was going. His mother heard the sound of the door from the kitchen and poked her head out the door to the foyer. "Hullo, Eric. Did you have a good day at school?"

Eric gave a slightly non-committal grunt that approximated a yes. "I got a bit wet on the way home and I'm going up to change." He set his backpack down by the stairs and headed up. Katherine Steel sighed as she returned to what she had been doing. Her son always seemed so distant. Would it hurt him to attempt to be like other boys?

Up in his room, Eric rifled through the dresser, pulling out fresh clothes. That fainting spell had unnerved him, not to mention the fact that he hated getting his clothes wet. He placed the fresh clothes on the bed and removed his school jacket and tie, then began unbuttoning his shirt. Just as he got it off, the strange static sound faded into his right ear.

"Oh no, no..." he murmured, dropping the soggy shirt and covering his ears. "Not again..." The static had moved into his other ear now, and the dizziness had once again hit. Instead of allowing himself to collapse, which would almost certainly cause a stir downstairs, he manuvered to a cross-legged seated position on the floor, squeezing his eyes shut. Again came the feeling of the world slipping away from him, and again he shivered with the intense cold.

Darkness surrounded him again, but this time there was a change. He thought he could hear something. Someone calling for him. But . . . why? He reached out a hand to the tall shadowy figure. Something about her seemed so familiar . . . The figure turned its head to him, then raised a long stave over its head. Then, the glimpse faded and he found himself on the floor in his room, dazed, confused, and very, very cold. As soon as he felt strong enough to stand, Eric did so, hurrying to get changed and out of his still-wet clothes.

Moments after he had changed, the sound of something hitting his window made him start. There was a window in Sophie's house that was directly across from his, and whenever she had wanted to get his attention as children, she had thrown some kind of pebble against the window. Cautiously, he walked over and pushed back the curtain. Sophie leaned on the window sill across the way, her smile bright. She gave a small wave and he nodded back in acknowledgment as he pulled the window open.

"What is it?" he asked bluntly.

"Just wondering how you were doing. You scared me back there," Sophie explained.

_I scared myself,_ he thought. "I. . . I'm doing ok. But . . . I had another fainting spell a few minutes ago."

Sophie's sunny expression instantly clouded over. "That doesn't sound very 'ok' to me," she chided. Eric sighed.

"Look, talking out of the window like this is uncomfortable. Could we talk this over at the library or something?" Sophie smiled again and nodded.

"Very well. I'll go tell mother that I'm studying with you." With a wave, she pulled back inside and closed the windows, letting the drapes fall back into place. Eric sighed and did the same, then headed downstairs to tell his mother where he was going.

*~~O~~*

"So, what happened?" Sophie asked almost as soon as he met her outside. Eric sighed. She always had to know the latest details on everything.

Eric waited until he was right next to her to answer. "I fainted," he replied with a shrug. Sophie sighed. He could be so difficult sometimes, though he said the same about her as well.

"Yes, I know you fainted. But the question is _why_?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea. I almost thought I could hear someone calling me before I awoke . . . but it's too hazy to tell." His grey-blue eyes got colder and he gritted his teeth together. "I hate not being responsible for my own actions!" he said rather loudly. Sophie started a bit, then relaxed, placing a calming hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Eric, it's all right. Perhaps there's more to this than there appears," she said soothingly. Still, the blonde boy looked aggitated. Inside, he knew she was right, though his pride once again refused to let him admit it. He stopped walking and turned away, not daring to look at her.

"I just want to know what's going on with me . . . " he said in a low voice. Eric always had his days perfectly ordered: everything in it's place, whether it was his room, his locker at school or his schedule. Everything happened like clockwork because he could be sure of where everything was and when it happened. But this, it felt like a ticking time bomb inside him, a time bomb of narcolepsy which could go off at any moment. And it frightened him.

A soft hand on his elbow made him turn, and he locked eyes with Sophie. Her warm blue eyes and gentle touch seemed to banish his anger and fear, leaving him feeling rather exhausted. Still, they were supposed to be going to the library to study, and he didn't want to fib about that. With a sigh, he squared his shoulders and marched forwards in the direction of the library, Sophie at his side. They had reached the stairs that lead up to the main entrance when Sophie stopped, a funny expression on her face. The moment Eric noticed, he spun towards her, gripping her shoulders in his hands.

"Are you all right?" he asked urgently. Sophie swallowed, her eyes staring at a point far distant.

"I . . . don't know. I feel strange . . ." Eric loosened his grip on her shoulders, then let his hands fall to the sides when he was sure she wouldn't fall. Taking a step back, he glanced around, scanning the area and the people around him. His eyes lit on a woman, tall, wearing a long black dress. Her hair was dark, long and loose save for a section pulled up into a bun at the back of her head. She had skin of a dark tan color, and bright, peircing eyes that seemed to burn into his mind.

A prickle ran down his neck for a moment. Something about the woman's gaze unnerved him. He took a half step towards her, taking a challenging position as he called out, "Who are you?" The woman said nothing. Eric began to take another step towards her, when the ringing returned. He cried out, collapsing to his kness, his hands clamped over his ears. He could feel something inside him changing, a sort of wrenching tug. It hurt, almost worse than anything he'd ever felt. A scream was ripped from his throat as the air around his right wrist shimmered and glowed. With a crystalline chime, a dark grey watch solidified on his arm, a strange symbol etched into the reflective face. The pain faded, and as he opened his eyes, he noticed the woman had disappeared. Slowly, he stood, then looked at the watch on his wrist.

It was a simple, analog watch, not really much to look at save for the strange symbol etched into the face. It resembled a capitolized A inside a circle with an arrow pointing up from the top of the A and lines extending out like feet from the two legs of the A. Though the hands were ticking by, he didn't notice he'd been staring at it until he glanced to the side and saw Sophie staring at him from around his shoulder. He jumped slightly, then lowered his arm.

"Sophie, why must you do that?!" he asked with a glare. Sophie smiled slightly and glanced away.

"Because it's fun to watch you squirm?" she teased, then straightened up. "What happened back there?"

So many questions! Eric was finally reaching the end of his rope. "I don't know! I don't know!" He shook his head violently and refused to meet her eyes. Sophie grabbed his wist firmly, and he paused, then glanced at her.

"Because I have one too . . ." she said, holding up her own wrist, revealing a similar watch, though colored completely in blue and with a similarly strange symbol, like a lowercase h though the curved end and the tip of the upright shaft had open circles attached to them.

"What on Earth are they for?" he mused, staring at his wrist once again. For a few moments their eyes met, when something that felt like a small earthquake made them both reel. Eric was the first to recover, and he shook his head slightly to clear it. "An earthquake?" he wondered. But no one on the street seemed to be affected. _How odd,_ he thought.

"Eric, look!" Sophie called, grabbing his arm and pointing at something down the street. Eric took a few steps towards the road, then looked in the direction she was pointing. There was a creature in the road, but not like a creature anyone had seen before. It sort of resembled a man, but it was as if a bird of prey had been mixed in with it. The creature was completely black and almost seemed to absorb the light around it. All except for it's pupil-less eyes that glowed white.

The creature turned its head towards them, glowing eyes locking on to the two teens standing on the sidewalk and gave out a scream that sounded as if someone were ripping apart metal. Sophie winced and reflexevly covered her ears with her hands. The scream stopped as the creature leaped at them, claw-like hands outstretched. Sophie screamed, and Eric reflexevly threw up his arms to protect himself. He closed his eyes, steeling his courage for the pain he knew would follow, but instead was surprised when he felt nothing. Tentatively, the blonde teen opened his eyes to see what had happened, and was surprised to find a dark grey globe covering himself, and a bright blue one around his friend.

Eric looked once again at his watch, realizing that the globe must have come from there. The bright, almost iradescant face glittered back at him innocently. He glared at it, willing the piece of plastic and metal to give up its secrets. Almost instantaneously, words sprang to life in his mind, words that seemed to mean nothing . . . but he instinctively knew otherwise. They were indeed a long shot, but compared to being turned into a punching-bag for an insane bird-monster they seemed quite reasonable. Eric raised his hand over his head and called out, "Chronos Steel Power! Transform!" The symbol on his watch appeared on his forehead. The grey orb pulsed, then collapesd on him and a surge of energy shot through the young man, fusing new clothes onto his body.

Meanwhile, Sophie had been experiencing something similar. Her watch had captivated her attention as words sprang to life within her mind. Sophie herself was much more willing to take a risk than Eric, and somehow she too knew the words were not lunacy. She raised her hand, and called out confidently, "Chronos Sapphire Power! Make-up!" Her symbol burst into life on her forhead as the dome over her collapsed inwards, morphing her clothing.

When the light and energy surge had faded, the two teens stared first at themselves than at each other. What a change! Eric's clothing had become a dark grey jacket with short sleeves that was open in front, with a light grey sailor collar, held at the end by a circular pin that seemed to be cut from a rough blue mineral. Attached to the pin was a medium grey tie with a blue band around the bottom, that matched the short sleeved- shirt he wore under the jacket. Short, mid-forearm gloves were on his arms, made of the same dark grey material and encircled at the top with light grey rings. He wore rather loose-fitting dark grey pants that had a light grey belt with a blue decoration similar to the one on his jacket fixed in front. On his feet were low, light grey boots wrapped with medium grey straps. On his forehead was a silver strip of metal with a dark grey jewel affixed to it.

Sophie was similarly changed, wearing a white leotard with raised circular rings around the shoulders and a raised v-shaped belt at the waist. Her Sailor Collar was of a medium blue, the same color as her multi-pleated skirt. A large, stiff bow of dark-blue cloth was at the base of the collar, fixed with a multi-faceted blue jewel and a similar bow was at the back of her belt. Short gloves similar to the ones Eric was wearing were on her arms, but white with blue rings. She wore a silver tiara with a blue stone and blue pumps, and around her neck was a gauzy blue scarf, tied at the side with the ends trailing behind her. She wore large circular blue earrings, and both she and Eric had the watches around their right wrists.

The monster charged at them, but the newly-transformed soldiers jumped into the air out of the way, then landed next to each other behind it. They spun back-to-back, turning their heads to face the creature.

"All irregularities are to be handled by the forces controlling the dimensions!" Sophie called.

"We are the warriors for this star system!" Eric called out as well.

"Sailor Sapphire!"

"Knight Steel!"

"Have Been assigned!" they chorused. "And by the powers granted to us, you will be dealt with!"

The monster roared again, and charged towards the two. Steel jumped out of the way while Sapphire cartwheeled in the opposite direction to safety. Steel turned, his eyes cold. then he ran towards the monster, flinging a punch at it's stomach, then one at it's head. The monster roared in pain and flailed about. Finally, Steel threw all his strength into a punch that sent the monster flying across the street. He shook his hand slightly, pain echoing up his arm. He glanced over his shoulder, and his stormy grey eyes met the bright blue eyes of his partner, and a small nod shot his meaning to her.

Sapphire stood and turned to face the dark creature. She placed her hands on her head, fingers to her temples as her eyes glowed blue. Slowly her head tilted backwards, and called out "Chronal Dreamer Burst!" as she pulled her hands away from her head, then swung her arms around in front so that they crossed. A blinding pulse of blue energy shot from her hands, striking the monster and confusing it. It reeled, shaking its head and roaring most piteously. Steel straightened up from where he stood.

"Let's end this," he muttered, standing with his arms out to sides, palms facing forwards. A pale blue glow surrounded each hand, and snowflakes began to swirl around his hands. The snowflakes slowly formed into into balls of snow, and they floated in front of his hands. Steel spun around once, raising his hands up to his chest, and crossing the wrists, palms outwards, calling out, "Frigid!" . As he turned, more snowballs formed around him. Finally, he thrust his right hand forwards, and bent his left arm, clenching his fist by his waist. With a final cry of "Assault!" the snowballs flew forward on their own, pummeling the monster. With each snowball, the monster became encased in more and more ice, until it was covered. When the final snowball hit, instead of adding to the ice, it shattered the ice and the monster as well, leaving a pile of ice shards and powered monster. Steel stepped forwards and toed the pile, as if checking to see if it really was dead.

"I believe it is, Steel," Sapphire said, walking over beside him. Steel looked at her, confused.

"Did you just read my mind?" he asked. Sapphire's smile was teasing, but still kind.

"I guess I just did," she said, her voice quavering slightly as she held in laughter, "but you _are_ fairly easy to read, Steel." Steel raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

*~~O~~*

Eric laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his room. After Sophie and himself had figured out how to change back, they had gone into the library to study. Eric refused to go right home since he wouldn't lie to his mother about studying. Once he and Sophie had decided that they couldn't possibly study any more, they had walked home together. Now, he was laying in his room, thinking over the events of that day.

When Sophie and him had been fighting that monster, it had been as if they knew what each other was thinking. They'd been close before, but...never like this. And these strange powers...how had he known what to do? Why hadn't they surfaced before? He'd been too awed to discuss it with Sophie before, but still he had questions rattling through his mind. Why did he have these powers? There had to be a purpose, and something in his heart said that this was only the beginning.


End file.
